Biggles Breaks the Silence/plot
Chapter 1: Biggles Has Visitors The Air Police crew are without a case and bored so they welcome a visit from L.A.C. Grimes or "Grimy", an ex-666 Sqn fitter and his father Captain "Jumbo" Grimes or "the skipper" a sea captain. "Jumbo" has a story to tell which involved the possibility of finding a treasure in the form of a "crown with diamonds". The skipper had been a prisoner of the Japanese during the war. After his release, he had been looking for a passage home from Hong Kong when he had been approached by a man Lavinsky to captain his a ship which he owned, the Svelt. He accepted but soon found that he had to take the ship to Antarctica where Lavinsky and his partners poached seals. There, they saw the wreck of a wooden schooner trapped in the ice. Lavinsky and his partners went out to investigate. The experience seemed to frighten Lavinsky and he wanted the ship to go back to Hong Kong. En route, the chief engineer, Neil McArthur told the skipper that he had overhead Lavinsky discussing the wreck in his cabin. He had heard the words "stars" and "crown". Nearing Hong Kong, Lavinsky and his crew murdered McArthur but the skipper escaped by jumping overboard. Back in London, he and his son decided to ask Biggles for advice and perhaps interest him in going to fetch the treasure. Chapter 2: A Page From the Past Biggles tells the skipper that his discovery was not a crown with diamonds but in fact a schooner named the Starry Crown. The wreck did, however, contain a ton of bar gold. Biggles could not afford the cost of an expedition to fetch the gold but he thought the government might finance one so he offers to forward this idea to Air Commodore Raymond. Chapter 3: Southward Bound The expedition is approved by the government and the Air Police crew head south with the two Grimes on board a pair of Vickers Wellington aircraft. Algy and Bertie remain behind with one aircraft in reserve at the Falklands Islands while the others press on to Graham Land, Antarctica, near where "Jumbo" believed the wreck to be. Chapter 4: Beyond Men's Footsteps Biggles, Ginger and the skipper make a ground search but find nothing. Chapter 5: Into the Past After three more days of unsuccessful scouting on foot in various directions, the crew prepares to do one last search. This time Ginger finds the wreck of the Starry Crown and the bars of gold. He is engaged in cutting a lump off as proof when he hears a ghastly chuckle. Turning around he spots an eye in a pale white face staring at him from behind some ice. Chapter 6: Ginger Runs Away The ghostly encounter is too much for Ginger and he runs back to the camp in fright. Biggles is sceptical but decides to go and take a look. Ginger reluctantly shows him and the skipper the way. Chapter 7: The Horror in the Hulk They get to the hulk but before Biggles can get inside, they hear a eerie voice calling out to them to keep away as the gold is his. An axe flies out of the wreck at them, narrowly missing Biggles. But Biggles is undetered and enters the wreck. Suddenly a figure appears and dashes past Ginger out of the ship holding a bar of gold. The skipper recognises him as Larsen, a Swede sailor on the Svelt whom Lavinsky had left behind when he got lost. Larsen had been in the act of hiding the gold when they arrived. Biggles decides to move the bars out of the ship. They make a pile on the ice and leave Ginger to guard it while Biggles and the Skipper go back to fetch the plane. Chapter 8: The Unexpected Again Biggles tries to take off but discovers that the skis on the Wellington undercarriage are stuck to the ice. They take some time to free them and then fly to the hulk. When they get there, Ginger and the gold are gone! Chapter 9: What Happened to Ginger The ice on which Ginger had been standing on had broken off and had drfited away. Ginger is marooned on the ice floe but is soon spotted by a ship. It's Lavinsky with the Svelt! Ginger is picked up but he doesn't tell Lavinsky about the gold on the ice floe. Chapter 10: Biggles Gets a Shock Biggles begins planning a search for Ginger but this is cut sort when they spot the Svelt approaching. Lavinsky lands with Ginger and some men and wastes no time demanding where the gold is. Biggles truthfully tells him it is not in the wreck and he doesn't know where it is. At Biggles' invitation, Lavinsky looks inside the hulk and then the aircraft. Finding nothing, he and his men return to their ship. Chapter 11: Move and Counter-move Biggles decides to move back to their original base camp. Algy and Bertie arrive, having been summoned by an earlier meesage that they had found the wreck. Biggles and Ginger take off to search for the ice floe. By a stroke of luck, Ginger spots it almost immediately after take off. Better yet, it seems to be drifitng towards them. Chapter 12: Lavinsky Shows His Hand Biggles and co. hear a gunshot in the distance and then Lavinsky arrives at their camp. He tells them he had just captured Larsen and had shot him. Larsen had told him that he had seen Biggles and co. moving the gold out of the wreck. So where is it? Biggles tells him the rest of the story: the gold was moved onto the ice and it had broken off with Ginger on it. Lavinsky had picked up Ginger but not the gold. Cursing, Lavinsky goes back to his ship and begins search the ice floes. Meanwhile Ginger's ice floe gets close enough so they begin transfering the gold and loading up Algy's Wellington. After half the gold had been load, Ginger sees Lavinsky approaching with a force of armed men, so Biggles tells Algy to take off and get back to the Falklands. At least half the gold will then be safely away. Lavinsky comes back and tells them he has seen them move the gold with his binoculars but before the argument gets any further, Algy flies over and drops a message: the Svelt has become trapped in the ice! This sends Lavinsky back to his ship but he leaves a force of a few men on a ridge some distance away to watch Biggles' camp. Chapter 13: Biggles Plays for Time Lavinsky lowers a small boat into the water and begins searching for a way out of the ice. Meanwhile, Biggles sends the others to start bringing back the remaining gold bars. Only about half a dozen bars remain to be moved, but now Lavinsky's boat starts to head for the ice floe while more men are seen approaching the group on the ridge. Almost the entire crew of the Svelt is converging on them from two directions. Rather than fight it out, Biggles decides to play for time. He takes off and heads for the Svelt. Chapter 14: War on the Ice Getting on board the deserted ship, Biggles and the Skipper find and release Larsen, who had been shot in the shoulder, and help him on board their aircraft where they apply first aid. The Skipper then cuts the mooring cables of the ship and sets it adrift. The men on Lavinsky's boat and the other group of men on the ridge both hurry back to save their ship. Biggles takes off and flies back to his camp site where they finish loading up the remaining gold bars. Now for the final lap! But one of the engines fail to start! The engine is too cold and they need to heat it first. Meanwhile Lavinsky has got his ship back under control and now the crew is once again advancing in force on them. Biggles knows this is the final showdown. Lavinsky's men start shooting at the aircraft and injure Grimy in the process. Meanwhile the engine still won't start! To make matters worse, they hear an approaching aircraft. Algy! And he will land right in the middle of the firefight. Helplessly they watch Algy land, apparently unconcerned, right in front of the advancing hostile forces. Lavinsky's men charge towards the aircraft, perhaps thinking they have an easy capture. But out of the aircraft comes a strong force of naval ratings. Lavinsky and his men beat a hasty retreat. There is no point pursuing them--they are trapped on the ice. Biggles regroups with Algy and the newly arrived naval party and they decide to take off for the Falklands. A ship can be sent for Lavinsky later. Chapter 15: The End of the Story The party flies to the Falklands where Larsen and Grimy are given medical treatment. The gold is left there for a navy ship to collect while they fly back to London. Their share of the salvage is paid out but that is not the end of the story. Larsen, who eventually recovers from his wounds, writes to Biggles telling him he remembers where he had hid the bar of gold he took when he ran out of the wreck. If they want to fetch it, it is still there. But Biggles and the rest decide the bar of gold can remain there. They have had enough of Antarctica. Category:Plot summaries